


LadyBlog

by buoyantsaturn



Series: Lovebug [8]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, please read the notes at the beginning of the first chapter, this au has been happening for a year now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-03-17 22:07:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13668255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: “We’re working with Piper McLean, the creator of the LadyBlog, to bring you our own reports on our progress. We will be taking questions through the blog, and we’ll post the video of our report about once a week, depending on the progress we’ve made and whether we have the time to produce a video.”a collection of videos posted to the LadyBlog





	1. Videos

**Author's Note:**

> the first chapter - Videos - is a collection of videos posted on the LadyBlog, as previously mentioned.  
> the second (and possibly third if it gets that long) chapter - Outtakes - will have all the events that happen in between the LadyBlog videos, so that's where all the plot's gonna be once i get around to it  
> this chapter is a bunch of sappy stuff for valentines day and a celebration of 1 year of this au!!! thanks for sticking around so long!!!

Will dropped onto the balcony carefully, and handed his backpack off to Piper. “New camera, tripod, detachable microphone, and some empty SD cards,” he said, and Piper stared in awe at the contents of the bag.

“You really did  _ not _ have to do this, Will,” Piper told him in a breathy voice. “Holy  _ shit.” _

“It’s not a big deal,” Will promised. “It’s for my and Nico’s safety as much as it is for you to use for the blog.”

“So I get to keep it all even after these videos are done?” Piper nearly squealed.

“Of course, and besides, I wouldn't have any use for it.” Will lifted up the trap door in the balcony that led to Nico’s bedroom. “Take your time setting everything up, I’m gonna make sure Nico’s ready to go.” He dropped through the opening and landed in a crouch on Nico’s bed.

Nico, already transformed, was pacing back and forth and reading out of a notebook. Will hopped off the bed and stood in Nico’s path until Nico walked right into him. “Hey there, Bugaboo.” He wrapped an arm around Nico’s waist and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Whatcha doing?”

“I, uh,” Nico hesitated before showing Will the page. “I wrote myself a script, and I’m trying to remember all the important stuff.”

“It’s all gonna be fine, Babe,” Will assured him. “Are you ready to head up and start?”

Nico tossed the notebook onto his desk and nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

They climbed back onto the balcony one at a time to see Piper and Jason standing at the balcony’s rail and gazing down at the street below.

“Hey, are we ready to go?” Will asked as the closed the door softly behind him. 

Jason and Piper jumped apart like they’d been caught doing something they shouldn’t. Piper stepped behind the camera and said, “Yeah, let’s go! I think I’ve got the shot lined up, just stand over there and I’ll tell you when I’m ready.”

Nico leaned back against the rail in front of the camera and crossed his arms, while Will hopped up and crouched on top of the rail. Nico rolled his eyes at Will’s cat-like pose and said, “Can’t you sit like a normal person?”

“Lovebug, I’m a- _ paw _ -led that you would think for even a second that I’m at all normal,” Will told him with a hand held against his chest.

“You’re an idiot,” Nico said with a soft laugh.

“Please, you love my stupid puns,” Will insisted as he leaned down until his nose bumped against Nico’s. 

Nico tilted his head and pressed his lips to Will’s. “Maybe I do.”

“Hey, are you done?” Jason asked. “‘Cause we’re ready to go.”

Will relaxed his position and let one of his legs dangle over the railing. “Yeah, we’re good.”

A beep came from Piper’s camera and she offered them a thumbs-up when she was ready. 

“Hello, everyone!” Will said cheerily. “I’m Chat Noir, as you all know. And here with me is the one and only, Ladybug himself!”

Nico raised an eyebrow at Will before returning his attention to the camera. “Uh, hi. As I’m sure you’ve heard, Chat Noir and I have had our names cleared by the police, meaning that we will be continuing our search for Ethan Nakamura. However, this does  _ not _ mean that we will be speaking to any reporters during our search.”

“We’re working with Piper McLean, the creator of the LadyBlog, to bring you our own reports on our progress,” Will continued. “We will be taking questions through the blog, and we’ll post the video of our report about once a week, depending on the progress we’ve made and whether we have the time to produce a video.”

“There are some restrictions on the questions we are willing to answer,” Nico said. “As we’ve already said, we will discuss our progress on our search for Ethan Nakamura, and we will answer questions pertaining to that. We will  _ not _ answer any questions sent to us about our personal identities or the nature of our powers. This is for your safety as well as our own.”

“This is the only way that we will be reaching out to the public until Ethan Nakamura has been de-evilized,” Will explained. “Uh, this is intended to be a way for the press to contact us, but--” He glanced at Nico with a shrug. “We can probably answer questions from everyone else, too, right?”

“Oh, uh, I guess?” Nico replied, and turned back to the camera. “But the same restrictions still apply. We won’t answer any questions that will endanger ourselves or anyone else, and we will determine what’s safe for us to answer.”

“That’s all for now,” Will said. “Please send your questions into the LadyBlog, and we will answer as many as we can in the next video.”

They paused for long enough that Piper could stop recording before Nico slumped forward. “Was that okay?” he asked. “Should we try that again?”

“I thought it was perfect,” Will said, draping an arm around Nico’s shoulders.

“Yeah, it seemed good to me,” Jason agreed. He turned to Piper who was bouncing slightly in place and shaking out her hands.

“Sorry, I’m just really excited for all the traffic the blog is about to get,” she told them. “And Chat Noir said my name in a video that everyone’s going to see. I know that sounds dumb, especially now that I know that Ladybug and Chat Noir are just a couple of lame teenagers, but it’s still super exciting for me.”

“Oh, I totally get it,” Will said. “I still get a little starstruck around Ladybug sometimes.”

Nico elbowed him softly in the stomach while Jason said, “Alright, now you’re just being gross.”

 

* * *

 

“Thank you, everyone, for sending us your questions,” Ladybug started. “There were, uh, a lot of them. We probably won’t be getting around to answering all of them this week, so sorry about that, but we’ll do our best.”

“Before we start with that, we would like to thank Piper McLean once again for helping us produce these videos,” Chat Noir said, “and a thanks to Jason Grace for helping us sort through the questions--”

“Oh, cool, I get a shoutout, too,” Jason said.

“Jason, shut up,” Piper said, and Ladybug held back a laugh. “Just because the mic is pointed at them doesn’t mean it won’t pick up our voices, too.”

“Right, sorry.”

Piper asked, “Will, can you say that one more time?”

“Yeah, okay. Before we start, we would like to thank Piper McLean for helping us produce these videos, and a thanks to Jason Grace for helping us sort through the questions. He’ll also be reading them to us today.”

“We’ll answer questions from the press first,” Ladybug explained, “and then move on to everyone else’s questions. Jason, first question from the press, please?”

“First question is from Laurel Victor on channel six news--”

“We don’t need all of that, Jas, just the question is good enough,” Chat Noir told him. “Uh, and Piper, feel free to cut this bit out later.”

“Will do,” Piper said.

“Okay, first question,” Jason tried again. “You mentioned in your first video that Nakamura’s power is the ability to create illusions. Could you elaborate on what you mean by this? Are you aware of any other powers that he might have?” 

“As far as we know, Volpino’s only power is the ability to create illusions,” Ladybug said. “Any other powers he may appear to have are also just illusions.”

“As we said, we believe that Volpino used his power of illusion to trick everyone into thinking that we had thrown him off the side of a building and killed him,” Chat reminded the viewers. “His illusions are very believable, and it seems to us right now that it may be impossible to tell whether something is an illusion or not until it is destroyed. Volpino’s illusions, when destroyed, will disappear in a cloud of smoke.”

“In the past week, we haven’t made any progress in finding Volpino,” Ladybug said. “We haven’t seen Ethan Nakamura, either, and we are currently unsure on whether we have come into contact with any of his illusions.”

Ladybug and Chat Noir shared a look, waiting for the other to share more information, though neither of them had anything to add.

“Uh, Jason, next question?” Ladybug asked.

“That seems to be it for the press,” Jason responded. “I mean, there’s more, but they’re all just about the same. So, other questions now?”

“Yeah, let’s hear them,” Chat replied.

Jason paused, looking down at his laptop where he had the Ladyblog open to the questions and comments section. “Oh, man, you guys are gonna love these. First question: Ladybug and Chat Noir, are you dating?”

Chat started to laugh while Ladybug buried his face in his hands. “How could we forget to prepare for a question like this?” Ladybug groaned.

“Oh, I came prepared, Bugaboo,” Chat said. “We just need to answer everything exactly how we would have before we knew about each other. Which means, in this case, you say something like, ‘Oh, please, we’re just partners, I could never date someone who says so many puns,’ and I say something like, ‘But wouldn’t it be  _ purr _ -fect if you did?’”

“Geez, did I really sound like that?” Ladybug asked.

“As someone who overanalyzed every clip of each of you that exists,” Piper cut in, “yeah, that’s what you said in basically every interview. And Will was all heart-eyes and infatuation all the time.”

“Infatuated, in love with,” Chat said, waving a hand dismissively, “potato, pot _ ah _ to. Alright, let’s start this one over, Jason.”

_ “In love with?” _ Ladybug repeated, eyes wide and staring up at his boyfriend, but Jason spoke over him, rereading the question.

“Um, no, we’re not dating,” Ladybug answered, shaking his head in hopes of clearing away the words echoing in his head. “We’re just partners, it’s strictly professional. We can’t let ourselves get distracted from the job and risk endangering ourselves and everyone around us.”

“Hmm, I think we could handle it,” Chat replied, leaning in close to Ladybug. “What do you say, Lovebug? Care to take a chance on me?” 

Ladybug glanced up at him, unsure of how he had never been affected by those heart-eyes before, and pushed at Chat’s nose until he was an arm’s length away. “I don’t think so, Kitty.”

Chat sighed. “A cat can dream, I suppose. Do we have another question, Jason?”

“Uh, yeah,” Jason said. “Where can we send fanmail?”

“Oh, I can take this one!” Piper offered. She stepped around the camera until she was in between Ladybug and Chat Noir. “Fanmail can be sent to me, and I’ll make sure it gets to these two. I’ll add the address in the description of this video so that it’s easy to find.”

 

* * *

 

Nico sat alone in front of the camera on Piper’s balcony, the group having moved their shooting location for the day so as to throw off anyone trying to pinpoint the area based on the scenery. 

“Hi, everyone,” Nico said once Piper gave him a thumbs-up. “Chat Noir is running late, so I’ll be starting the questions on my own, and he’ll jump in once he gets here. Jason, first question from the press?

“Ladybug and Chat Noir,” Jason said, reading a question from the press. “Or, uh, just Ladybug at the moment. The city’s sheriff has discussed taking matters into the hands of the police because they feel that the two of you have not fulfilled your job as protectors of the city in a timely matter. How do you respond to this?”

“Please, for your own safety, do  _ not _ interfere,” Nico said sternly. “Chat Noir and I are working as fast as we can, but Volpino is very elusive and a trickster. Anyone that tries to confront him could be seriously injured or killed. As we know from previous akumatized victims, these villains won’t stop until they get what they want. That means that Volpino won’t be extra careful around civilians or trained officers, because the akuma is erasing his rational thought. He doesn’t  _ care _ that he’s damaging the city or hurting people, because he will do anything he can to get what he wants, no matter the obstacles. 

“That being said, everyone - police or otherwise - should stay as far away from Volpino as possible, and leave the fighting to Chat and I. We’ve never failed to capture an akuma before, and we promise that we won’t let you down this time.”

Nico slumped back in his chair once he finished speaking, the tension releasing from his body as he exhaled. He gave himself a second to breathe before he straightened again in his seat and said, “Okay. Next question.”

Before Jason could speak, Will dropped onto the balcony beside Nico and practically fell into the chair behind him. Piper could almost see the tension draining from each of them as their eyes met, their expressions brightening, and Nico leaned over to press a kiss to Will’s lips.

“Hi Sunshine,” he said softly.

“Hey, sorry I’m late,” Will replied, reaching up and brushing a few strands of hair away from Nico’s face and behind his ear. 

Piper cleared her throat to gain their attention, and Nico and Will jumped away from each other.

“Shit! Sorry,” Nico said. “Uh, okay, so please cut that out of the video, and please read the next question.”

“Okay, this is a question from a fan,” Jason said. “They want to know everything you’re willing to share about your civilian selves, including but not limited to: physical description, age, whether or not you live in the city, and if you know each others’ identities. And  _ bonus, _ do Jason and Piper know your identities. And I’ll answer that one right now, no we do not.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “Alright, we’ll answer as much as we can, but that means that after this, we won’t be accepting any more questions about our identities for as long as we do these videos.” He turned to his boyfriend and said, “Will-- uh,  _ would you _ like to go first, Chat?”

Will snorted at Nico’s near-reveal. “Sure, yeah. So I look like a normal human boy, somewhere in the age-range of nine-to-ninety-nine. Imagine this face and body with no mask and normal clothes, that’s what I look like. And, actually, I would assume that that’s very similar to how Ladybug would describe himself, right Bugaboo?”

“Spot on, Kitty,” Nico replied, trying and failing to hold back a smile. “Except, of course, with my own face and body.”

_ “Spot _ on, did you say?” Will repeated, poking Nico on the bridge of the nose where a bit of black dotted his mask.

Nico rolled his eyes again and slapped Will’s hand away. “We don’t know each other’s identities, thank God. I don’t think I could handle being around someone as  _ punny _ as you all the time.”

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again,” Will practically sang, “you love my puns, and we would be  _ purr- _ fect together. Anyway - what was another question? Oh, yeah - I live in the city, but I’m not telling you where.”

“I live in the city too,” Nico continued, “but good luck trying to find me. Was that all of them?”

Jason looked down at his laptop, muttering, “Description, age… Yeah, that’s all of it. You want another?”

“Yeah, sure.” Will replied.

“How do you know Piper and Jason?” he read. “And why-slash-how did you get them to help you make these videos? Why not get professionals to help?”

“Well, uh, Piper runs the Ladyblog,” Nico answered. “We contacted her directly through the blog, and she actually offered to help us film. Jason’s a friend of hers, so she got him to help us, too.”

“And, I don’t know if you guys pay attention to the quality of the videos on this blog,” Will said, “but everything looks pretty professional to me.”

 

* * *

 

Chat Noir had never looked so uncomfortable in front of the camera. 

“Hey there, everyone,” he said stiffly. “Uh, it might just be me today, because Ladybug is--” He exhaled, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“We came very close last night,” Chat said quietly, staring off over the edge of the balcony. “We thought we had Volpino cornered, we tried to get information from him, but he managed to get away again. This is the closest we’ve gotten, which hopefully means that he’s getting sloppy or lazy, and we’ll be able to find him again. We’ll catch him, next time.” He sighed, finally glancing back at the camera. “Jason, a question, please?”

“There’s just one from the press this week,” Jason told him. “Who or what is responsible for akumatizing Volpino and all of the other previous victims?”

Chat groaned, grinding the heels of his palms into his eyes. “We don’t know. There’s a chance that something Volpino said last night could lead us to whoever’s responsible, but--”

The trapdoor to Nico’s balcony opened, and Ladybug climbed out. 

Chat’s expression softened, his arms opening and welcoming Ladybug in. “Hey, Bugaboo, how are you feeling?” Ladybug didn’t respond to him, though he leaned into Chat’s side and didn’t shrug off the arm that slipped around his waist. 

“During last night’s fight, I believe that we gained enough information that we will be able to take down Volpino the next time we encounter him,” Ladybug said into the camera. “We are certain now that someone - one  _ specific _ person - is responsible for akumatizing every victim. We know nothing about this person, who they are or what their powers entail, but we are doing everything we can to find out more of this information on our own. 

“Volpino won’t be a problem much longer, and I am confident that the next time we see him in his akumatized state will be the last. When Volpino is once again Ethan Nakamura, we will turn him over to the police for questioning, and hopefully the police will work with us on this.

“This will most likely be our last video. When Volpino is caught, we will return to speaking to the press in person, because our own personal safety will no longer be in danger. Thank you for trusting us all this time. I promise you, we won’t let you down.” Ladybug took a breath and slumped into Chat’s side. “That’s it, Piper. That’s the end of the video. No more questions.”


	2. Outtakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey remember when i said i was gonna write a second chapter to this

Nico wandered down the stairs into the living room, expecting to find the apartment empty but instead seeing the TV on with the volume down low and someone that definitely did  _ not _ live in that apartment sitting on the couch. 

“Hey, Annabeth,” Nico called, a note of confusion coloring his voice. “What are you doing here?”

“Playing  _ Ultimate Mecha Strike,” _ she responded unhelpfully. Nico could see on the TV that Annabeth had already worked her way halfway up the leaderboard, and she was encroaching on his high score. 

“I can see that,” Nico said, walking further into the room and dropping onto the couch next to her. “But  _ why _ are you here?”

“Didn’t want to be at home,” Annabeth answered, and hit a combo to win the round. “Wanna battle me?”

Nico shrugged, but grabbed a controller from the coffee table in front of them. “Your step-mom again?” he asked, and saw Annabeth nod out of the corner of his eye. “I’m sorry. You’re always welcome here, even if Percy isn’t. And, uh, speaking of--”

“Oh, he’s not here,” Annabeth said, starting their battle. “I walked into the candy shop downstairs and Sally didn’t even say anything, she just opened up the door to the stairwell. And now here I am, kicking your  _ ass, _ di Angelo, c’mon, I thought you were good at this game!”

“Maybe I’m trying to give you a sympathy round,” Nico replied, and immediately stepped up his game. He still managed to lose the round, but it was a closer loss than it would have been.

“What are you doing outside of your cave, anyway?” Annabeth asked, rapidly clicking buttons on her controller to try to combat Nico’s attacks against her.

“You mean my upstairs bedroom that has possibly the best lighting in the apartment? That cave?” Nico responded. “Will’s coming over soon, I was gonna wait for him down here so I could hear him knock on the door.”

“I’m never gonna get over the fact that you’re dating a  _ literal _ model,” she commented. 

“Me neither,” Nico said softly. Between the clanging sounds of metal hitting metal coming from the TV, Nico could hear knocking on the door behind him. “Did you leave the door unlocked?”

“Yeah,” Annabeth replied, and then called out, “It’s open!”

The door swung open behind them and Will walked inside, stopping right behind the couch. “Hey Darlin’,” said said, and leaned down to press a kiss to the top of Nico’s head. “Hi Annabeth. Who’s winning?”

“Me,” Nico answered as he won the second round. 

“We’re tied!” Annabeth exclaimed. 

Nico tipped his head back against the couch cushions to meet Will’s eyes behind him. “I’m gonna win the last round, though.”

“Yeah, right!”

“I believe in you, babe,” Will told him, and kissed Nico quickly on the forehead. “Can I grab a snack?”

“Yeah, go ahead,” Nico told him, and he started the third and final round. When Will returned with his peanut butter and jelly sandwich, Annabeth managed to land the final blow against Nico, winning the game.

“Yes!” Annabeth exclaimed, holding her controller up triumphantly. 

“I let you win!” Nico argued. “That first round should’ve been mine!”

“Yeah, right, you’re just a sore loser,” Annabeth shot back.

“Rematch!” Nico declared, but before Annabeth could take him up on it, Will stepped in. 

“Oh, no,” he said, prying the controller out of Nico’s hands with only one of his own - the other still holding his sandwich. “We have stuff to do and no time for more video games, so let’s go.”

Nico huffed, but rose from the couch. “Fine. But this isn’t over!”

“Uh huh, sure,” Annabeth said as she switched the game back over to single player. 

Will had to practically drag Nico away from the couch and up the stairs, until they were finally alone in Nico’s room.

Nico plopped down onto his bed while Will wheeled over Nico’s desk chair, not wanting to get bread crumbs on Nico’s sheets. “So, what did you want to talk about?” Will asked before taking a bite out of his sandwich.

“I think we should do more videos for the LadyBlog,” Nico told him. “I still don’t think that we should talk to any reporters until we catch Ethan, but I don’t want anyone to think that we’ve abandoned the city at any point.”

“So we still meet with the press, but on our own terms?” Will asked.

“Kind of. We’ll have people send us whatever questions they want us to answer, but we give ourselves the opportunity to pick and choose what we want to answer,” Nico explained further. “It’ll be safer for us, because we can cut out whatever we don’t want to say, just like we did in the last video we made.”

“I think that sounds like a great idea,” Will told him. “Have you talked to Piper about it yet?”

“No, I wanted to make sure you were okay with it first,” Nico said. “I don’t think she’ll mind, though. It’ll make her blog  _ way _ more popular than it already is.”

Will nodded. “You should text her and see what she thinks. I could even buy her some new camera equipment as a thanks for all the help.”

“Then she couldn’t  _ possibly  _ say no.”

 

* * *

 

Will dove onto Nico’s bed one Saturday afternoon where Nico was still sleeping from the night before, wrapping his boyfriend up in his arms and thoroughly waking Nico up. 

Nico groaned, trying to pull his blankets up over his head to shield him from the disruptions his boyfriend was causing, but Will just crawled under the covers with him. “What are you doing?” Nico whined. 

“I had to get up early this morning for work,” Will complained into Nico’s shoulder as he tightened his hold around him. “I’m  _ so tired.” _

“You mean you had to get up early to sit around and lean against walls in fancy clothes,” Nico said, finally relaxing into Will’s hold.

“For like,  _ three hours,” _ Will groaned. “And then I had to sit around for another two hours and listen to people talk about what I’m gonna be doing for the rest of forever.”

Nico rolled over and shuffled their positions until his face was pressed into Will’s chest. “Oh, boo hoo, you’ve got a job for life.”

“When I turn eighteen they’re gonna make me model underwear.”

Nico pulled his head back, squinting up at his boyfriend against the brightness of the room, searching for the truth in his eyes. “Underwear model,” he repeated.

“Yes!” Will exclaimed miserably. “Don’t you know how uncomfortable that’s going to be? I don’t want a ton of people taking pictures of me in my underwear! And those pictures are going to be in magazines and on billboards and  _ everywhere else.” _

“Underwear model,” Nico said again, practically whispering.

“Yes,  _ underwear model, _ do you not understand? Are you having a stroke?” Will asked. 

“I’m sorry, sometimes I just forget that you’re  _ actually _ a model since I don’t actively follow your career anymore.”

“Uh, what?” Will said, propping himself up on an elbow and staring down at his boyfriend. “Did you just imply that you used to stalk me?”

Nico tucked his face into his pillow, hiding the growing blush on his cheeks. “I didn’t say that.”

“But you kind of did,” Will said. “You said that you don’t  _ actively follow  _ me _ anymore. _ So that means you used to! Holy shit, you had a huge celebrity crush on me, didn’t you?”

With a huff, Nico flopped onto his back and looked up at his boyfriend. He pointed at a wall across the room and said, “That wall, over there, used to have a huge collage of magazine cutouts of you. The screensaver on my desktop used to be a slideshow of pictures of you. And right above my bed, I used to have a poster of you - one of those perfume ads with the giant posters. Percy stole one from somewhere once and gave it to me as a joke, but the joke was on him, mostly.”

Will had a look of shock on his face, confused and disbelieving, until his expression became almost sad. “But then...why did you take them all down? What happened to all of them?”

“Are you sad that I stopped cyberstalking you when we met in  _ real life?” _ Nico demanded. “I took all of it down on your first day at school and burned every picture.”

“You  _ burned _ them?” Will repeated. “You  _ burned _ pictures of  _ me? _ Why?!”

“Because what if you came over here and  _ saw that?  _ You would be terrified! You would never speak to me again!” Nico ground the heels of his palms into his eyes with a groan.  _ “God, _ a year ago if I saw you in an underwear ad I would have combusted. I would have died on the spot, Will, I’m serious.”

“And what about six months from now when there’s a chance that you  _ will _ see me in an underwear ad?” Will asked.

“I’ll buy every copy of whatever magazine it’s in,” Nico told him, “because you look really good in your underwear and nobody should be allowed to see that except for me.”

“This has been a whirlwind of a conversation,” Will said, and fell onto his back on the mattress beside Nico. “What are you gonna do about any ads on the internet? You can’t buy out the internet.”

Nico only hesitated for a second. “I’m sure Annabeth could figure out how to hack it to get the ads taken down.”

“You’re very serious about this, aren’t you?” Will asked as Nico dropped his hands away from his face, lacing his fingers with Will’s.

Nico raised an eyebrow at him and said in a monotone voice, “You’re very pretty and shouldn’t be allowed in public in case people get the wrong idea and think you’re single.”

Will struggled to hold back a laugh, lifting their laced fingers up to his mouth to hide his grin. “What if, while I’m modeling, I just wear underwear that says  _ Property of Nico di Angelo _ on the ass?”

Nico scrunched up his nose. “Normally I would say yes, but when you turn eighteen, I’ll still be seventeen, and that might get us into legal trouble. And by us, I mean you.”

 

* * *

 

When they finished filming, Jason and Piper left to edit and post the video, while Nico and Will stayed back. They released their transformations in Nico’s bedroom, Will gathering his things and preparing to leave and Nico watching from his bed.

“Will?” Nico said softly, fidgeting with the elastic that he’d removed from his hair.

“Yeah, babe?” Will responded, though he didn’t look up until the silence between them stretched. He crossed the room and knelt down in front of his boyfriend, his hands resting on Nico’s thighs. “What’s up, Darling?”

Nico took a deep breath. “You’re in love with me?”

A smile bloomed slowly on Will’s face. “Yeah. I am.”

Nico bit his lip, his eyes still locked on the hair tie twisted around his fingers as his cheeks grew pink.

Will’s fingers brushed against Nico’s cheek gently angling Nico’s face up until he met Will’s gaze. “I love you, Nico.” He pressed his lips to Nico’s for just a second before pulling away with a sigh. “God, I’m so in love with you.”

“How long?” Nico asked, pressing his forehead to Will’s.

Will thought for a second. “A while. Since that first time you slept over, I think. That’s when I knew for sure, at least, but I think I’ve always been a little bit in love with Ladybug.”

Nico paused for a second, staring into Will’s eyes. “You really aren’t lying, are you?”

“Of course not, Bugaboo, I would never lie to you,” Will assured him. “You don’t have to say it back, you know. It’s fine if you’re not ready yet.”

Nico bit his lip. “I… I want to, but--” How could he tell Will that he was afraid that saying those three words would ruin it all? “I will, but...not yet.”

“That’s fine,” Will told him. “Take all the time you need. I’ll wait for you as long as it takes.”

Nico pressed his lips to Will’s. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you, Bugaboo,” Will said. “I gotta run, but I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, sure,” Nico replied, and Will kissed him again.

“I love you,” he said again. “I’m so glad I can finally say that, you have no idea how long I’ve waited for the perfect time to tell you.”

Nico rolled his eyes. “And on our weekly public video is the perfect place.”

“Maybe not,” Will admitted. “But now I can say it whenever I want. I love you.”

“Shut up,” Nico laughed.

“Why should I? I love you.”

“Oh my god, get out of my room,” Nico said, shoving at Will’s shoulders as he continued to laugh. “You’re gonna be late for your shoot.”

“Alright, fine.” Will pressed his lips to Nico’s once more before he got up and grabbed his bag, only stopping once he got to Nico’s door. “Oh, and Nico? I love you.”

 

* * *

 

They could only patrol late at night, since it was the only time that the reporters couldn’t corner them. They’d spotted Volpino for the first time in weeks, hurrying to chase after him across the rooftops, but he disappeared in the darkness. The two heroes split up, keeping their communicators online in case one of them caught a scent, so to speak. 

Nico had gone North from where they’d lost Volpino, and Will had gone East, and about ten minutes after they’d split up, Nico heard cursing through the communicator. 

“Chat, are you alright?” he asked, stopping where he was in case he needed to turn around and find his partner. 

_ “Shit,” _ Will’s voice came through, and Nico could hear sirens. “I’m good, I’m fine. The cops started tailing me and I think I heard a gunshot, but I’m fine. They-- Hang on, can you hear them through the communicator?”

Nico strained to hear the distant noises coming through his yoyo, but the officer’s voice he made out seemed to be coming through a megaphone or another sort of amplifier. “This is Officer Tanaka. Whoever is up on that rooftop, show yourself. If you appear to be armed, we will not hesitate to open fire.”

“Do they think you’re Volpino?” Nico asked. “I thought we weren’t going to have this problem anymore.”

“I’m not sure what’s going on exactly,” Will replied. “But you keep searching. I’ll find my way out of this and then I’ll come to you.”

“Be careful,” Nico told him.

“I always am,” Will said, and Nico heard him shout down at the police.

“You never are.”

 

* * *

 

It had taken them weeks, but they’d finally managed to corner Volpino on a rooftop, backed up to a billboard - that coincidentally had a picture of Will on it - with nowhere to run. 

“Give up, Ethan,” Will said, staff in hand and ready to attack. “We’ve got you.”

“Where’s your akuma?” Nico demanded, yoyo spinning rapidly. 

Ethan grinned at them evilly. “And why would I ever tell you that? So you can take my powers away from me? Yeah, right.”

Suddenly, Ethan froze, his expression falling neutral and his eyes glazing over as a purple butterfly-shape circled his eyes.

“What’s happening?” Will asked, but Ethan didn’t react at all. “Ethan!”

Ethan grinned again as the purple glow vanished, growling, “Yes, Papillion,” before he lunged at Nico. He pushed Nico back onto the ground, knocking the yoyo out of his hands and ripping one of the earrings out of Nico’s ear.

Will tackled Ethan away as Nico’s Ladybug suit started to dissolve, slowly revealing his civilian form. Will held his staff against Ethan’s neck, holding him down long enough for Nico to pry his earring out of Ethan’s hand, before Ethan managed to kick Will off of him, throwing him backwards. He launched himself off the rooftop before Nico had a chance to replace his earring, and they watched Volpino escape their grasp. 

Will crawled back onto his feet, hurrying toward a shaking Nico and wrapping his arms around him. “Are you alright?”

“He almost got it,” Nico whispered. “He had my earring in his hand, and I almost detransformed. He almost got away with it.”

“But he didn’t,” Will said, pressing his lips to Nico’s forehead. “Plagg, detransform.”

In a flash of green light, the Chat Noir suit disappeared, and Will sat in Chat’s place.

“What’s the plan here, kid?” Plagg asked grumpily, though of course that was his natural state.

“Detransform, Nico,” Will said. “I think we should talk to Tikki.”

“Oh, so you don’t want me,” Plagg said. “You just want to talk to Tikki. Of course. Isn’t that how it always is.”

Nico released his transformation, and immediately Tikki flew up to rest in Will’s hair. “I’m sorry, Tikki. I’m sorry he got that close.”

“We need help,” Will said. “We’ve been after Volpino for almost two months, and we’re barely getting any closer. Please, tell us what we can do.”

Tikki and Plagg shared a look, seeming to deliberate for a long time before Plagg finally said, “There’s somewhere you can go.”

 

Still in their civilian forms, Will and Nico made their way through the city in the middle of the night, unsure of where they were going or whether this place would be safe. Tikki and Plagg had pointed them toward a tea shop on the North side of town, but when they got to the door of the shop, they were even more unsure than before.

The place was run down, as were most of the buildings nearby, and Will wished he was transformed so that he could defend the two of them, should something happen. The lights in the tea shop were off, as would be expected for nearly three o’clock in the morning, but Tikki insisted that they knock. 

Will tightened his hand around Nico’s before he raised his free hand to knock on the door. Immediately, the building lit up, and Will and Nico jumped back from the door. It opened after a few moments, revealing a man in a wheelchair with a long brown beard. 

“Ah, Ladybug and Chat Noir, I’ve been expecting you,” the man said calmly, smiling up at them kindly. “Please, come inside, I’ll make us some tea.” The man turned away and wheeled himself back into the shop, leaving the door wide open behind himself. 

“What the hell is this?” Nico hissed. “How does he know who we are?”

“Only one way to find out,” Will replied, and he pulled Nico through the door. “Uh, sir? How do you know who we are?” 

The two heroes walked further into the shop to see a mostly empty room with a counter against the far wall and a low-sitting table in the center of the room. The man in the wheelchair was already setting teacups and a steaming kettle on the table when they entered the room. 

“Allow me to explain by introducing myself,” the man said. “My name is Chiron, and we have met before. I am the holder of the Horse Miraculous, as well as the guardian of every other Miraculous. It was I that gave you the Miraculous that you hold now, because I judged you worthy of their powers.”

Nico and Will stood, frozen and confused, until Tikki and Plagg flew out of their hiding places to greet the man. A small, green Kwami rose from a record player on the counter, meeting them halfway. 

“You can help us, then,” Nico said, and pulled Will further into the room. 

“I assumed that is why you came to me,” Chiron said, and gestured to the tea set out. “Please, take a seat and help yourself. We have much to discuss.”

Nico and Will sat down on the floor, eagerly waiting for Chiron to speak. 

“The two of you hold the two most powerful Miraculous,” Chiron told them. “The powers of creation and destruction, when combined, have an even greater power. Should someone hold both the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous, they would be able to grant a single wish.”

“So all we have to do is wish Volpino’s akuma away?” Nico asked. “That sounds too simple.”

“It is actually far more complicated than that. Of course, everything comes with a price, and even this wish must follow the laws of equivalent exchange.”

“You said you hold the Horse Miraculous,” Will started. “How many more Miraculous are there?”

“Many,” Chiron stated. “And almost every one of them is in my possession. Nico, would you please bring that record player over to the table?”

Nico hesitated before standing and going over to the counter against the wall and collecting the record player before bringing it back. Chiron reached forward, pulling the top of the player away and revealing an octagonal box hidden inside. He opened the lid, showing off a ring of Miraculous, though there were a few empty places in the box. 

“The Miraculous I have here in this box are all that there are,” Chiron explained. “Aside from the Horse Miraculous, the two that you hold, and the Butterfly Miraculous.”

“Where’s that one?” Will asked. “The Butterfly Miraculous?”

“I’m not sure,” Chiron said. “It was stolen, along with a book that held the histories of each former Miraculous holder. However, I believe that it’s important for you to understand the powers of the Butterfly Miraculous holder. This person has the ability to take control of another person, should they be willing, and grants them temporary power to do as the Miraculous holder pleases.”

“They don’t have powers themself, but they can give powers to someone else,” Will rephrased. “That’s what the akumas are.”

“Exactly.”

“So, if we find the person with the Butterfly Miraculous and take it from them, then we won’t have to deal with the akumas anymore,” Nico said.

Will turned toward his boyfriend. “Alright, here’s what we should do: track down Ethan again and make sure we  _ have him _ this time, force him to tell us everything about how he got his powers, we’ll find the Butterfly Miraculous holder from there and take them down.”

Nico looked to Chiron, unsure of the plausibility of this plan. “Is there any more help you can offer us?”

“I wish I could, but I haven’t been able to utilize the powers of my Miraculous since I lost the use of my legs. I can, however, offer you this.” Chiron gestured toward the box on the table. “Take one of these, grant someone the temporary power of a Miraculous. Fight fire with fire, so to speak.”

“You’re serious?” Nico asked. “You really trust us with this?”

“Do I trust the city’s heroes to continue defending us?” Chiron shot back. “Yes, I think I do. And I can trust anyone that you trust to work alongside you.”

Will reached into the box and pulled out a necklace with a foxtail charm. “Babe, look. I’m pretty sure Ethan has this same necklace, it’s gotta be where his akuma is!”

“Nice, that’s what we’ll go for the next time we see him,” Nico said, as Will placed the necklace back in the box. “We’ll take this one.” Nico took a yellow comb from the box.

“Be sure that you make the right decision when you give this power to someone,” Chiron told them. “Someone smart, someone you trust, and someone that does not know your identities.” Nico opened his mouth to tell him that they’d hadn’t shared their identities, but Chiron gave him a pointed look and said, “I’ve seen the videos you’ve posted, and your film crew  _ certainly _ knows who you are. Be sure not to tell this one, for their own safety.”

“Right, of course,” Nico said.

“Do you have someone in mind?” Chiron asked.

Nico glanced up at Will, who seemed to be thinking the same thing as him. “Yeah, I think I do.”

 

* * *

 

With Tikki and Plagg’s energies restored, the two of them were able to transform and return to Nico’s balcony in about ten minutes, quietly dropping into Nico’s room. Nico released his transformation and snuck down the stairs to see Annabeth asleep on the living room couch, the starting screen of  _ Ultimate Mecha Strike _ on the TV in front of her. 

Nico climbed back into his room where Will was waiting, and he handed over the Miraculous. “Go knock on the front door. Offer this to Annabeth and tell her we need her help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!! sorry for the super long wait but theres probably gonna be another super long wait for the next chapter

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!! i promise i'll get around to writing the rest soon but college time is busy time so!!  
> 


End file.
